Created on March 22, 2012, this blog is dedicated to the rich and diverse Philippine cultures and it's people. You will find here pictures of the indigenous, music, dances, baybayin art, places in the Philippines, tattoos, animistic beliefs, myths and legends, deities, food, martial arts, and everything that makes us Pilipinx.

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“The aftermath of the biological family reunion – where does an adoptee go from here? How does one balance two families? These are some of the questions that James Beni Wilson will attempt to answer in his next film project, Once Upon An Ochia.

There are not many documentaries that highlight the ongoing relationship of an adoptee after reuniting with their biological family. I will be will be mapping out
a collective narrative focusing on the inter-cultural interactions between my families and myself. It will also include genealogy work of putting together a family tree and capturing the living oral history. This film is dedicated to adoptees, specifically trans-racial or trans-national adoptees, who are finding their way building and balancing new and old relationships, how it may impact one’s identity; to bring you a glimpse of what it may be like after post-reunion of an adoptee “finding their roots.

Please help me reach my goal in fundraising for my latest documentary film here! Even if you don’t donate, that’s fine as long as you help me share my indiegogo campaign I’ll be very grateful!”

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I invite you to join me on the rest of this journey to reach back as I move forward.

Sleep now, my dear Mindanaw, I will cradle you to sleep, Don’t allow the fighting outside Awaken you from slumber. Dream, dream of peace In the coming
days Tomorrow, who knows, you can walk To where there are no more tears.Husssh! Don’t be noisy You might disturb the child asleep Hussh! Stop all this fightingYou might also hit the child!Dream, dream of peace In the coming days Tomorrow, who knows, you can walk To where there are no more tears.Please let the child sleep And let him dream in peaceWake up, my dear MindanawPeace is coming to us now

balmesza: This might seem a bit random, but do you know any plants that played some significant role(s) in our mythology/folklore? Just curious if plants held some symbolic meaning back then

There were a few yes. Ginger is one and is prevalent in a lot of our myths often associated with gold.

Then there are the anahaw palm leaves that were used by the babaylans in their ritual dances as well as being their symbol seeing as they were buried with it.

The bamboo and coconut obviously which is prevalent in many creation myths such as the Bisayans creation myth where the fir
st man and woman came out from after floating in the sea to land.

Betel nut, though not so much focused on mythology and folklore, it was a sacred plant that was chewed and used in the blackening and reddening of teeth which everyone did prior to the Spaniards and is still being practiced today by those groups who weren’t colonized. This symbolized beauty as it was considered ugly and you were compared to a pig if it was white and besides blackening and redding the teeth they also filed it into pointed teeth and put gold plating which we do have examples of such as the Bolinao skull.

Rice, of course was considered sacred and was used as a major offering as rice, rice cakes, or rice wine like pangasi.

The balete or banyan tree is another which was considered sacred and where the spirits lived.

Ya thats what I can think of at the top of my head and the most important ones.

shadowkiller91234567-deactivate: I just want to say I love your tumblr. As a Filipino I am glad that this blog is dedicated to spreading the knowledge our true culture and our history. My question is that are their any Filipino deities that represented knowledge?

Thank you! And yes. The Ilokanos had Apo Lang-aw who was not just the god of wisdom and knowledge but also progress and prosperity. Not much else is known about this deity though other than there being a revolt in Ilocos in 1811 focused around those who worshiped Apo Lang-aw and resisted the Spaniards and
Catholicism. There was also Bathala Maykapal among the Tagalogs who was the supreme god.

Other than those two there isn’t any other deity specifically known to represent wisdom and knowledge. A majority of deities were focused on agriculture, the sea, afterlife, the fields and forests, fishing, and war which pretty defines the societies our ancestors lived in and depended on and still do today for the most part.